I've been a fan of Japanese popular music for 40 years, and have managed to collect a lot of material during that time. So I decided I wanted to talk about Showa Era music with like-minded fans. My particular era is the 70s and 80s (thus the "kayo kyoku"). The plus part includes a number of songs and artists from the last 30 years and also the early kayo. So, let's talk about New Music, aidoru, City Pop and enka.
Credits
I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.
Friday, September 21, 2012
Kohmi Hirose -- Romance no Kamisama （ロマンスの神様）
All hail the Queen of Winter! Kohmi Hirose（広瀬香美）has released a number of hits during the snow season, thus earning her the nickname. To this day, I can't really listen to a song of hers without the image of skis coalescing in my mind...and I've never even been on the slopes. My first Winter in Ichikawa, Chiba was in 1994 when I came across an Alpen commercial on TV; the company specializes in skis and snowboards, and a Hirose song, "Shiawase wo Tsukamitai"（幸せをつかみたい....I Wanna Grab Happiness), her 5th single, was the tie-up song.
But it's her 3rd and most successful single to date, "Romance no Kamisama" (God of Romance) that first got everyone singing her praises and her songs in the karaoke boxes and CD shops. I first heard this song when I went out to karaoke with some friends, and one of them tackled the tune. It's not an easy one to carry out since Hirose is famous for her sky-high voice. I think if she were an X-Man, she would be Banshee since what comes out of her larynx could potentially pierce through an unlucky orbiting satellite. Whenever anyone sang "Romance no Kamisama", we all waited to see if he/she could ride that crescendo and hit that high note in the middle of the song. Some made it....some didn't sing for the rest of the evening.
Not surprisingly, "Romance no Kamisama" was released in December 1993 and kept its No. 1 status going into the New Year. It would become the 2nd-ranking song of 1994, just behind Mr. Children's"Innocent World".
A story that has popped up on both Wikipedia and J-Wiki is that before the single was released, Hirose had made the president of her recording company promise that if the song sold more than a million copies, he would send the entire staff toDisney World in Florida all expenses paid. He assented, assuming that there would be no way of that happening. Well, the results were in...."Romance" easily passed 1.7 million discs in sales. And Victor Entertainment paid for about 10 staffers to get that trip to The Mouse House for 9 days. Still, I'm sure the pressure was on them to bring back one hell of an omiyage for the president.
"Romance no Kamisama" is also a track on Hirose's 3rd album, "SUCCESS STORY", also released in December 1993. It ended up reaching No. 2 on the charts and was the 26th-ranking album for 1994.
November 18, 2022: Not certain whether Hirose has attained some sort of record in memes, but over a decade following the whole "Geddan" thing with her hit "Promise" in 1997, it seems as if a new hit thing involving "Romance no Kamisama" landed with a splash in the last few months.
Hi! I enjoyed your site on j-pop reviews! They're very elaborate and great for people who are into older music, including myself. I've been listening to Kohmi Hirose for over 10 years now, including her older songs like this. I've first came across her music with the Card Captor Sakura song "Groovy". Yes, this was before the "Geddan!" internet phenomenon came out, which, ironically enough, is what she is known for outside Japan.
Hi, KaNa. Glad to hear your comments. Also congratulations on getting your Eurobeat song out.
Although I got into kayo kyoku/J-Pop via family and that trip to Japan over 30 years ago, I've also got friends who became fans of singers though their tie-ups with anime.
Hi!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your site on j-pop reviews! They're very elaborate and great for people who are into older music, including myself.
I've been listening to Kohmi Hirose for over 10 years now, including her older songs like this. I've first came across her music with the Card Captor Sakura song "Groovy". Yes, this was before the "Geddan!" internet phenomenon came out, which, ironically enough, is what she is known for outside Japan.
Hi, KaNa. Glad to hear your comments. Also congratulations on getting your Eurobeat song out.
DeleteAlthough I got into kayo kyoku/J-Pop via family and that trip to Japan over 30 years ago, I've also got friends who became fans of singers though their tie-ups with anime.